I'm going to read them

Eugenio Montale

WHAT I’M READING: An old New Directions collection that clearly had a sticker slapped on it saying “1975 NOBEL LAUREATE.”
REVIEW: Montale was one of the three Italian poets that Allen Mandelbaum says changed Italian poetry in the 20th century. I can see why he would say that, but I think I’m starting to get some poetry burnout, because I couldn’t focus on Montale to save my life. Occasional poems really stuck out; I think one in the first collection was about how he is a poet of interstitial spaces and general malaise. There’s another one about the time Hitler hijacked a festival parade in Florence. For the most part, I felt like it was just a series of unconnected images. Then again, like I said, I was having trouble concentrating.

RECOMMENDED: I can’t say either way. I’m going to give Montale another shot somewhere down the line, though.